Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 42
Issue 42 is the forty-third issue actual issue of Boom! Studios ongoing comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which begins its numbering with Issue 0. It is the third issue of the Necessary Evil story arc, the sixth story arc of the comics. It features the origin of Kiya as an Empowered. Synopsis NECESSARY EVIL continues as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have returned-just in time to discover a secret that may tear apart the team! Plot The Rangers are in the midst of fighting a new type of Putties that have multiple limbs and spider-like legs. As they fight, Adam wonders if their blade Blasters ever run out of ammo or even have ammo. At first Rocky thinks they run on batteries, but isn't sure himself. Aisha tells Adam to holster the blaster and fight them up close, Rocky agrees, figuring out that these Putties are stronger, but also slower. As the Rangers fight, Dayne is observing his assigned targets from a distance. He mentally notes he isn't sure which to take out first, making assessments about each one. For the new Rangers he observes, Aisha seems to hate taking orders from anyone and is headstrong, Rocky is a follower who has trouble keeping up and Adam is "scared of his own shadow". As for the veterans, Billy is hard to defeat as his mind makes him able to adapt, but Dayne thinks he can create a situation the Blue Ranger cannot see coming to throw him off. Kimberly, from his perspective, is the most problematic as she is a skilled bowwoman and is rebellious like he is. He then figures out that Tommy is the both the strongest and weakest link of the team. The White Ranger is swift, strong and cunning yet is also in reality a "lone wolf pretending to be a leader", a liability he can exploit. Tommy realizes that the new Spider-Putties are just like normal Z Putties and hits them in the chest. The others do the same and defeat them all, celebrating their victory. Dayne thinks he should give Lord Zedd a discount rate for the job, but he won't. He smiles as though the White Ranger has won the battle, he has already lost the war and teleports away. In Safehaven, the Blue Emissary is talking to someone, explaining why they are unique and empowered by the Morphin Grid. The events of "the Shattering" caused Morphin energy to leak out across space and time. Usually, those empowered by the Grid use morphers to act as a regulator for controlling the energy. Its effects to a person in raw form however are far too devastating, then Blue drifts mentally and rambles about future events, with XI reminding him he is "mixing his tenses again". Blue corrects himself and asks the individual if he can forgive him and his Omega Rangers and fight alongside them to aid others like him to better control their powers. The individual he is speaking to...is Garrison Vox. The brute responds by threatening to take Blue's cloak. Kiya tries to reason with him, saying they are trying to protect people. Vox asks what exactly from, individuals taking care of themselves and says he considers himself blessed. In his eyes, the Power Rangers represent a hierarchy of individuals who claim to be for the greater good, but feel threatened when the common people gain a little bit of their power. That scares them because something stronger than the Rangers could "put them out of business". Vox rejects their offer and asks to be put back in his prison, vowing to get out eventually and when he does, he will look forward to a rematch with Kiya. Later, Kiya is sitting on a rooftop and Trini comes by to talk with her. Kiya wonders why the Morphin Masters left Safehaven as it is beautiful here, XI told her that the Masters left through a "door to the stars". Trini jokes that the Morphin Grid must be beautiful this time of year. Trini wonders if Kiya is okay, with her teammate answering that she is just thinking of her little brother Sello. She tells Trini a story about how he once asked where the sun went on her homeworld, she explained to her little brother that the sun sleeps after flying in the sky most of the day. Sello then waddled into the fields, looked up at the sky and shouted for the sun to wake up and it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. Trini asks how old her brother is and she says that he would have been four years old. Trini apologizes as she didn't know, but Kiya says that she is her friend and she has a right to know more about her. Kiya explains that when she was "empowered", she was asleep in her bed and suddenly had the taste of copper in her mouth and a "thousand spider webs of electricity" flew out of her. As the Grid's energy took hold of her body, she felt connected to everything in the universe and the power kept building and building until it was unleashed in a burst similar to a nuclear bomb and her family and everything except her in the blast was burned to ash. All she has left is the reminder of her "blessing", a series of bulging veins and scars all over her body. Trini says she is so sorry for her loss, Kiya says that while Vox may love his power, she dislikes hers as it cost her everything. Back on Earth, Kimberly is having trouble keeping up with Tommy on a jog and asking hiim to slow down. She thought they would be jogging in the park, not on top of the Great Wall of China. Tommy says it is hard to impress a gril who has been to the Moon and he had to technically lie to Alpha 5 just to get teleported here by saying there were monsters in China ready to attack. Kimberly says it is exhausting but pretty to look at. Tommy had always wanted to see the Great Wall since he was a kid, he dreamed about sneaking on a boat and just walking to it. the nice thing about being on his own is nobody could say no to him no matter how crazy the ideas were. Kimberly asks how long he was alone, with him simply saying: awhile. Tommy then wonders if Kimberly can race to the end of the Wall, with her thinking that is crazy as it is thousands of miles long and asks if he is even a little bit tired. Tommy says no and the last one there pays for the bill at Ernie's as he zooms past her. Kimberly mumbles "Stupid new White Ranger powers." as she struggles to keep up with him. At Safehaven, XI gets a Level 6 Alert which means the effects of the Grid leak are escalating. He manages to locate the source: the planet Breel. Zack is not happy to hear that, with Kiya asking if they have been there before. Blue explains that they "arrvied in a kalediscope of colors and were forever changed". Jason and Trini awkwardly explain that the Emissary is trying to say is the planet has unusual properties that affected morphing such as switching colors and being able to read each others thoughts. Zack is surprised at that last part as they never mentioned it when he went there the first time. Kiya is amused, thinking she could become the Red Ranger for once. XI explains that the Omega Morphers connection to the Morphin Grid is far stronger, thus Breel will have no effect on them. However, a recent detection of enemy ships in orbit, some containing members of the Machine Empire, Hydro Contaminators and Attraxzines among others, the worst of the worst. Trini thinks they might be searching for Empowereds, while Jason asks if it is an invasion. Blue says that it is not, it is an invitation, seeing a sacred queen and a formal reception that could shift the balance of power in the universe. Trini and Kiya are excited as this means they get to crash an alien party and wear fancy dresses. Xi says that is exactly what they are going to do, a covert operation and fortunately he has an understanding of both humanoid behavior and fashion. The four teleport to Breel, with the girls seeing their new dresses form as they beam down. Trini declares this is her most favorite mission ever while Kiya admires her new black satin dress as she didn't think XI had any taste since he doesn't wear clothes. XI, ever the strict handler, says that while he is glad everyone loves their evening wear, they need to focus on getting into the party and he has teleported them far enough away to avoid detection but near enough to get to the palace. Xi recommends extreme caution, as while the energy signature matches an Empowered, it could be anything. Jason instructs his team to sneak in quietly and try not to make a scene. They manage to get close to the palace and almost in position, but are stopped by Breel imperial guards who ask why they are outside the palace, as they were instructed not to wander around the planet. They are questioned about what faction they serve and Zack slightly panics and says they try not to congregate with anyone, looking towards Jason. Jason says it is all clear and the four proceed to take out the guards, though they cannot resist doing kiais despite Jason asking them to be a little quieter about taking them down. Kiya asks Trini about the Earth concept of women wearing high heeled shoes, wondering about the necessity of "spikes on their feet" for formal occasions. Trini says "the spiker the better" as they kick the guards with their spiky shoes. Jason knocks out the last guard and instructs his team to quickly hide the bodies in the bushes, then informs XI they are in the clear afterward. XI says they are moderately behind schedule, once inside the palace, they must locate the Level 6 and then prepare for extraction once the target is secure. The Target is extremely powerful and possibly hostile, XI instructs them to not engage it alone and to stay alert as they are surrounded by enemy hostiles, and most importantly not to draw attention to themselves, speaking to Zack in particular as he casually mingles with the party guests and even indulges in a bit of James Bond style suaveness when interacting with one of the guests. A voice comes from the room and the veteran Rangers are surprised to see that it belongs to Queen Adriyel of the Kedry, who is still alive. Jason worries about if she is the Empowered, as that would complicate the mission given their last encounter. Adriyel tells the audience that her people have been slaves, first to the inhabitants of the planet, then to Rita Repulsa, then to insignificance. But tonight, the Kedry will join as a military superpower to wage an allied war with whatever enemies her guests have. One Attraxzine interrupts her presentation, demanding to see the weapon and insulting Adiryel as nothing but a "slave queen". He tells her if she doesn't have anything other than speeches and not the "planet killer" she promised, he will leave and go back to his ship. Queen Adriyel calmly asks the Attraxzine what ship he has and orders one of her men, the palace then shakes violently as sparks of purple energy flicker in the hall, then a large beam of violet light emerges from the top of the pyramid palace and rips apart the Attraxzine's ship in orbit. XI detects a spike of Morphin Energy, the same Level 6 energy they were after was activated and completely destroyed the Attraxzine's ship. Queen Adriyel states she isn't here for favors or alliances, she is here for everyone in the room to bow down and swear loyalty to her or be destroyed by her weapon...including the Power Rangers attending her party, as the Rangers shockingly realize their cover was blown the minute they walked in. In Ernie's Juice Bar, Skull is flirting with Candice about her eyes while a depressed Bulk is struggling dealing with being the third wheel as his best friend ignores him. Billy and Kimberly talk, with the latter talking about being exhausted after the jog in China. Kimberly admits it was nice not talking about Zack, Trini or Jason at all while there. Billy says they never contacted him again about coming to visit them in Switzerland. Kimberly says maybe its time to admit both sides are going to be apart in two worlds. Tommy tries to inspire his team after a few setbacks they had in the past, only for a news report to break that Dayne is attacking the city. The gang morphs and teleport to his location, Dayne then goads them into attacking him. The Rangers summon their Blade Blasters, but the guns stop charging and short out when they try to fire them. Dayne reveals he has a micro-yield EMP emitter on him which disables their blasters and then draws out two plasma energy baton weapons and says one last thing as he prepares to strike: "Rangers, I should warn you....this isn't going to be a fair fight." To Be Continued.... Errors *''to be added'' Notes *When asked by L'hekwx who he was, Zack responded that he was "Taylor, Zack Taylor", much like how James Bond introduced himself to people in his films as "Bond, James Bond". This humorous spur of the moment reference is likely because Zack was on a covert mission much like the famous British spy.